Michigan nephew, 4 others convicted for abducting, beating uncle who was gifted $100K in viral video

A Michigan nephew and four others were convicted of abducting and ruthlessly beating his uncle — then leaving him tied up next to his burning truck — in a plot to steal $100,000 he received for helping a seemingly blind influencer.Roland Chatmon, 37, pleaded guilty to kidnapping conspiracy and federal gun charges related to the September 2025 attack on his uncle Curtis Dixon, federal prosecutors in Detroit announced Wednesday.Leica Lopez Martinez, 33, Ieasha Stroman, 38, and Dneiqua Stroman, 43, face the same charges while Kenneth Anderson, 54, previously pleaded guilty to money laundering for his role, prosecutors said.Investigators found the conspiracy began in August 2025 when Dixon went viral for offering to help Zach Dereniowski, a TikTok star known as MDMotivator with more than 28 million followers, who was pretending to be blind for a video.Dixon — who was suffering from financial woes at the time and was planning to pawn his wedding ring — received $1,000 from the influencer for his good deed.Dereniowski then organized a GoFundMe for Dixon that quickly raised more than $100,000, and he received a new truck and “other gifts,” prosecutors said.Chatmon then contacted his brother in jail, and the two hatched a plan to steal Dixon’s windfall — even laughing about carrying out the plot against their uncle, investigators said.The group struck on Sept.1, 2025, when one of the suspects tricked Dixon into giving them a ride as Chatmon guided him by phone.The rest of the group ambushed Dixon at gunpoint when he pulled his vehicle over.

Dixon was hog-tied and taken hostage in his own truck, where he was repeatedly pistol whipped and beaten as the crew drove around to access his bank accounts.“After successfully making cash withdrawals, the conspirators wanted more money, and the victim offered up a safe at his house with some cash,” prosecutors said.“The conspirators drove to the victim’s house and, with the victim still tied up in his truck, C...